Typhoon trials Brimstone

The Royal Air Force's (RAF) Eurofighter Typhoon has successfully completed a new series of flight trials with MBDA's Brimstone air-to-surface weapon at BAE Systems' site in Warton, Lancashire, the company announced on 13 March.

The trials are part of the development campaign for the Phase 3 Enhancement package for Typhoon, which will also deliver sensor and mission system upgrades as part of the UK's Project Centurion. The project aims to deliver a seamless transition of capability from Tornado to Typhoon for the RAF by the end of 2018.

The trials were conducted using the UK Typhoon Instrumented Production Aircraft 6 to gather air data on the weapon and expand the carriage envelope. Firing trials will be conducted later in 2017 to test the effectiveness of the weapon in operational scenarios.

Steve Formoso, chief test pilot for BAE Systems military air and information business, said: 'This series of flight trials has included aero data gathering flights to test how the addition of the Brimstone weapon and other assets interacts with the aircraft's flight control system software. The results have been excellent, with the pilot maintaining manoeuvrability whilst carrying a heavy weapons load.

'The detailed results of these trials will now be analysed and further testing carried out ahead of firing trials. The low-collateral Brimstone will provide the Typhoon pilot with the ability to precisely attack fast-moving targets at range, further enhancing the aircraft's already potent air-to-surface capabilities.'

The flight trial programme for Brimstone is running alongside ongoing Typhoon development programmes with the Meteor and Storm Shadow weapons, which form part of the aircraft's Phase 2 Enhancement package due to be delivered into service in 2018.